


You will not finish what I started

by JasonPeace



Category: Star Wars, Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi
Genre: First Kiss, First Time, Graphic, Incest, M/M, Male Slash, Romance, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-10
Updated: 2019-02-27
Packaged: 2019-03-03 05:43:37
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,877
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13334685
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JasonPeace/pseuds/JasonPeace
Summary: Devastated by his failure to finish what Darth Vader had started, Kylo Ren turns to his grandfather for strength, seeking comfort and reassurance in the only person he can turn to when everything he had worked for falls apart.In his desperation and loneliness, Kylo tries to establish a Force Bond to Darth Vader’s ghost.Devastated by Padmé’s refusal to join him, Anakin involuntarily tries to use the Force to connect with her, but his desperate search for her love and understanding reaches another.





	1. Chapter 1

“Help me,” Kylo Ren pleaded, staring at the burnt mask of Darth Vader. It was the only thing that could bring him comfort in his most despairing moments, though right now it wasn’t working as well as he had hoped.   
Everything had fallen apart for him: Snoke was dead, the Starkiller Base had been destroyed, the Resistance was on the rise, and the First Order had no proper leader. The last part was, of course, an opportunity for him, but was it one he wanted to take?   
It was everything he had wanted and he had sacrificed so much for it, yet he found himself hesitating.

“I don’t know what to do,” he confessed to the mask in front of which he kneeled. “I need your guidance, grandfather. I need to feel the Dark Side. I’m not able to do this on my own.” He had given up everything he had; he had devoted his life to the Dark Side; he had even killed his own father because Snoke made him believe it would make him stronger, even though in reality it had made him weaker than ever - so weak he even lost against that Jedi-wannabe, Rey.

Rey, who, for a moment, seemed like his salvation. Someone he could trust - someone who would take away his desolation and loneliness - but in the end, she turned away from him too. All he had was Darth Vader, whose Force Ghost refused to show himself, no matter how many times Kylo had begged him to come.

“Just this one time,” he whispered desperately, closing his eyes and reaching out with the Force to try and find a connection to him through a Force Bond. “Please, grandfather. I need you more than ever.”

~*~

Anakin removed his hood and ran across the bridge towards the platform where Padmé’s ship had just landed. Though he was glad to see her, he was also quite alarmed because Mustafar was a dangerous planet on which he really didn’t want his wife.

“I saw your ship,” he told her as she ran into his arms and he embraced her. They had so few moments together that he cherished them above all else, but all too soon she pulled back from him, giving him a desperate look.  
“What are you doing here?” he asked worried.

“I was so worried about you,” she said direly.  “Obi-Wan told me terrible things.”

Anakin frowned. “What things?” Did she know? Had Obi-Wan truly told her the horrible things he had done?

“He said you’ve turned to the dark side,” Padmé said confused. She looked so scared, it made Anakin’s insides churn. He didn’t want her to be involved in this, especially in her condition. “That you…” she continued hesitantly, “killed younglings.”

How would he explain this to her? The Jedi were the villains! They were the liars and hypocrites! All Anakin wanted was to save his wife and child.  
“Obi-Wan is trying to turn you against me,” he tried to explain as calmly as possible.

“He cares about us,” Padmé argued.

“Us?” Anakin asked surprised.

“He knows,” she confessed, caressing his arms. “He wants to help you.”

Though the thought of his treacherous master knowing the truth initially angered him, he was touched that she had stood to their relationship.

“Anakin,” she continued gravely, “All I want is your love.”

“Love won’t save you, Padmé,” Anakin argued. “Only my new powers can do that.”

“At what cost?” she asked despairingly.

Anakin wanted to say ‘at any cost’, because he was willing to do anything to keep her by his side, but she continued talking.

“You’re a good person. Don’t do this.” The fear and desperation in her eyes only assured him more of his path; he would do anything to protect her.

“I won’t lose you the way I lost my mother,” he said firmly, trying to assure her that he was right. “I am becoming more powerful than any Jedi has ever dreamed of. And I’m doing it for you. To protect you.” He had to make her understand: this was the only way.

Padmé reached up to caress his cheeks. “Come away with me,” she pleaded. “Help me raise our child. Leave everything else behind while we still can.”

“Don’t you see? We don’t have to run away anymore,” he tried to encourage her; finally they could stand to their relationship - why was she unable to see it? “I have brought peace to the Republic! I am more powerful than the chancellor. I can overthrow him,” he said firmly, but instead of being relieved, Padmé took a step back from him with a shocked look.  
“And together, you and I can rule the galaxy - make things the way we want them to be!” Everything could be so perfect, just the way they had always dreamt, so why was she still backing away from him with such an appalled look?

“I don’t believe what I’m hearing,” Padmé said in disbelief, shaking her head. “Obi-Wan was right. You’ve changed.”

Anger rose in him at yet another mention of Obi-Wan, the man who had betrayed him. Granted, the entire Jedi council had betrayed him, though their betrayal didn’t hurt as much as Obi-Wan’s. Learning that his master had kept him out of council decisions and withheld information from him, had cut a lot deeper than Anakin was willing to admit.

“I don’t want to hear another word about Obi-Wan,” he said as calmly as possible. “The Jedi turned against me. Don’t you turn against me,” he said fiercely.

Tears welled up in Padmé’s beautiful brown eyes, as she shook her head. “I don’t know you anymore,” she said horrified. “Anakin, you’re breaking my heart.”

Her words felt like someone throwing a bucket of cold water over his heated skin; how could she say that when all he wanted was to protect her? Everything he had done - all those unspeakable things - had been only for her.

“You’re going down a path I can’t follow,” she said desperately.

Though he wanted to argue with her, he suddenly saw his old master standing at the ramp of her ship. “Because of Obi-Wan?” he asked coldly as anger took over the pain she had inflicted a moment ago.

“Because of what you’ve done,” she argued. “What you plan to do.”

In that moment, he realized he had lost her. She had turned against him

“Stop. Stop now,” she continued in her same desperate tone. “Come back! I love you!”

In that moment, Anakin realized he had lost her. She had betrayed him, just like everyone else. After everything he had done for her, she broke his heart.

“Liar!” he yelled furiously, even though every fiber of his being was trying to hold her, to pull her back to him, to show her how he felt. He needed her… She was his reason for living. How could she turn away from him when he needed her the most?

~*~

The silence of Kylo Ren’s room was suddenly broken by unfamiliar noise and voices that ripped him out of his trance. Confused, he toppled over from his kneeling position, taking in a large gulp of hot, stale air that made his lungs itch.   
It took him a few moments to regain his strength from the draining attempt to seek out his grandfather’s Force Ghost, but once he was finally able to focus on his surroundings, it did nothing to ease his confusion and alarm, because he found himself on an open platform of some kind, surrounded by raging rivers of lava, while all his senses were swamped with raw emotions that seemed to be coming out of nowhere.  
Those were not his feelings, they were someone else’s; someone who was practically shoving them towards him.

Hastily, he crawled away from the edge, trying to get a grip on all the feelings of loss and betrayal that washed over his mind, and a moment later his attention was caught by a young woman who cried a helpless ‘No!’.

In order to avoid being seen by the people on the platform, Kylo pressed himself closer to the walls of the bridge leading away from the platform. Where was he? How had he gotten here and who were those people? Whose emotions was he feeling so strongly?  
It was like an exceptionally strong, willing Force Bond with someone who was trying to show him something. The first time he had experienced it with Rey in her hut, when she had attempted to make him see the light, except now it was a lot stronger, and the person shoving his feelings down Kylo’s throat wasn’t trying to show him light of any kind, but simply his own, painful and confused emotions.

“You’re with him!” the young man next to the woman accused her. “You brought him here to kill me!” The man raised his arm, force-choking the pregnant woman, and Kylo felt a new surge of guilt radiating off him, confirming that that was where whirlwind of uncontrolled feelings was coming from. Of course, that did nothing to explain why that man - one Kylo had never seen before in his life - was serving Kylo his personal feelings on a silver platter.

From his hiding place, he could feel the Force emanating off the man with just as much strength as his feelings. What had he gotten himself into?! Since when did such powerful force-sensitives even still exist?

“Let her go, Anakin,” a strong voice rang out from the ramp of the ship, nearly giving Kylo a seizure.

“Anakin?” he whispered to himself. That was impossible… It had to be a different Anakin. Who just happened to be very strong with the Force too, and who was now even angrier and in more pain than before.

“Let her go,” the earlier voice spoke again, just as a Jedi came into Kylo’s view. A real Jedi… The only one Kylo had ever known was Luke because the rest should have gone extinct a long time ago.

Anakin released the woman who collapsed to the ground, unconscious, and Kylo instinctively crouched deeper into his hiding space while a horrible though formed in his mind. It couldn’t be that the angry Force-wielder named Anakin was actually _the_ Anakin, right? The one he had been trying to reach a moment ago from the safety of his room… No, that was madness. Darth Vader had died over 30 years ago.

“You turned her against me!” Anakin accused the Jedi.

“You have done that yourself,” the Jedi retorted coldly.

As Anakin removed his cloak to prepare for a fight, Kylo was hit by heavy waves of pain and anger that were so strong it nearly dazed him. Why was he able to perceive this man’s emotions so strongly?  
Due to what had happened with Rey, Kylo had learned a lot about Force Bonds, but this went far beyond what he had been able to feel with Rey. It was almost as if the other man’s emotions were his own, and his pain in that moment was so great it made Kylo gasp for air.

“You will not take her from me!” Anakin yelled angrily, but Kylo could feel that his anger was just a mask for the pain and fear that consumed the young man.

The Jedi began removing his cloak also. “Your anger and your lust for power have already done that,” he said calmly. “You have allowed this Dark Lord to twist your mind, until now… until now you have become the very thing you swore to destroy.”

Kylo was uncertain if the emotions surging through him in that moment were his own or not, but the Jedi’s words felt like blades cutting into his skin; it was exactly what he had done… He had let Snoke use him and turn him to the Dark Side. Except Kylo wanted to be on the Dark Side… He wanted to finish what Darth Vader had started. It was his destiny.

“Don’t lecture me, Obi-Wan,” Anakin said coldly, and Kylo nearly swallowed his tongue.

Obi-Wan?! That Jedi was Obi-Wan Kenobi, the great Jedi master his parents had named him after?

“I see through the lies of the Jedi,” Anakin continued with his accusation as the two men walked around each other in a circle. “I do not fear the Dark Side as you do.”

With every word spoken, Kylo was reminded more and more of his own life, and due to the mad Force Bond that Anakin didn’t even seem to be aware of, Kylo felt as if he himself were that confused, hurt, scared and angry young man that was preparing to fight his former master. Or at least, if that really was the young Darth Vader and master Obi-Wan Kenobi that Kylo had heard so much about.

“I have brought peace, freedom, justice, and security to my new empire!” Anakin continued raving while Obi-Wan checked on the unconscious woman.

For a split second, a terrifying thought crossed Kylo’s mind, but he quickly disregarded it. There was no way that that woman there was Padmé; that couldn’t be. Or could it? But it had to be… Anakin had nearly killed her, despite all the love he felt for her, and now he felt terrible about hurting her.  
‘ _What a jerk,_ ’ Kylo thought flatly, though he had done similar things in his life, so he actually understood, but still.

“Your new empire?” Obi-Wan asked in disbelief as he rose back to his feet.

“Don’t make me kill you,” Anakin said coldly, his back turned to Obi-Wan.

“Anakin, my allegiance is to the Republic! To democracy!” the Jedi tried to reason, but Anakin wasn’t having it.

“If you’re not with me, then you’re my enemy!”

Kylo was unsure what to think of the entire situation; his reason was on Obi-Wan’s side because Anakin’s emotions were so confusing it scared him, but they were also brimming over with fear and pain, which made Kylo desperate to side with Anakin. Especially because he could feel those feelings almost as clearly as if they were his own.  
Or perhaps, they were his own too…

“Only a Sith deals in absolutes,” Obi-Wan said quietly before reaching for his lightsaber. “I will do what I must.”

“You will try,” Anakin said acidly, just as the Jedi master behind him turned on his lightsaber.

Kylo could feel the tension in the air as both men reached out with their Force to prepare to fight. He had to do something.   
However, before he had mustered up enough courage - or a plan - Anakin had turned on his lightsaber and charged at his former master, engaging them in a heated battle that compared to nothing Kylo had ever witnessed. It was the first time he saw two real Jedi fighting each other, and it scared him beyond reason.   
Despite all the training he had acquired from Snoke, he knew he was no match for either of these men, simply because he lacked the practice; there weren’t many lightsaber fights in his time anymore.

What should he do? Intervene? Watch?  
He knew what this battle was - he had heard about it many times: the legendary fight on Mustafar between Jedi master Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker.

This was the moment that defined Kylo Ren’s life: the birth of Darth Vader.

 


	2. Chapter 2

Kylo Ren watched as Obi-Wan and Anakin fought each other, while he tried to think of what to do. He knew what would happen if he didn’t intervene: Anakin would lose his remaining limbs, and be forced to live in a life-supporting armor for the rest of his life. An armor for which Kylo had always envied him, but looking at the lively young man Anakin had once been, he wasn’t so sure he wished that fate anymore. Could he intervene? Could he stop the future from happening? But what would happen if he stopped Anakin from getting that suit? Would it really stop him from becoming Darth Vader or was it inevitable?

‘ _Wait a minute,‘_ Kylo thought stupidly. Why was he trying to stop Anakin from becoming Darth Vader?! Darth Vader was his reason to live - everything he aspired to. If there was no Darth Vader, there would be no Kylo Ren.  
Did that mean that he couldn’t change the future and things were predestined to happen no matter what?  
And if it wasn’t like that, and he did indeed have the chance to change the future, did he even want to?

Kylo thought of all the pain and suffering the future would bring, not just him but also to everyone around him - particularly his parents… When the moment had come, when he had had the chance to kill his mother, he had hesitated; what did that mean?  
He had often thought about that day and about the day he had killed Han Solo, but no matter how often he tried to tell himself that he had done what he had had to do, he was overcome by grief every time anew. He had sacrificed everything for a master who had only used him… Was that the same with Vader?

Kylo had often heard the stories of how Vader had been seduced by Darth Sidious with fake promises that had only led to suffering and death - at least that had been Leia’s version. Lately, Kylo had done everything in his power to ignore the old tales of loss and pain, trying only to think of the power the Dark Side offered, but after having witnessed the discussion between Obi-Wan and Anakin, he felt the pull to the light stronger than ever.  
Which was rather ridiculous, given he was in the presence of none other than Darth Vader himself… Except this was not the Darth Vader he had always looked up to, it was Anakin Skywalker; a young man who was even more conflicted and scared than Kylo Ren himself felt, and the fact that Anakin seemed to be practically throwing his jumbled emotions at him, only made it worse for him.

Meanwhile, Anakin and Obi-Wan had battled their way into a building, into which Kylo now silently followed them, hoping they were too busy fighting to sense his presence.  
Apparently they were, because Anakin was currently trying to strangle his old master, but he didn’t get too far because Obi-Wan soon managed to kick him away, and they battled on the large conference table while Kylo cautiously watched from a safe distance.  
Was he even strong enough to intervene in a fight like this?  
Obviously, the Jedi had had a far more extensive training than the one Kylo himself had ‘enjoyed’.

In that moment, Obi-Wan kicked Anakin down on the table and drew his saber, ready to kill the younger man, but long before Kylo even managed to react, Anakin had pulled his own saber towards him, blocking the deadly strike.

Anakin seemed more than capable of handling himself, making Kylo feel even more inferior than before; no wonder he had always looked up to him. Anakin had to be at least 7 or 8 years younger than Kylo in this time, yet he was far ahead when it came to his abilities with the lightsaber, and probably many other things too.

Yet, if Kylo didn’t interfere, this battle would end almost deadly for him…

While Kylo was still busy trying to make up his mind, Obi-Wan and Anakin were testing their knowledge of the Force by attempting to push each other away with it. The Force radiating off them was so strong Kylo could feel it all the way from his hiding spot behind the open doors.  
Their powerplay only lasted a few seconds before both of them were thrown in opposite directions, both landing heavily on computer panels, giving the fight a short break.  
Kylo didn’t have any details on this battle and had no idea when things would start getting critical, but he wasn’t willing to wait. He had no idea what his actions would do, or what good they would bring, but there were so many things about the future that he had so often wished he could change, and now was his chance.

The moment Anakin jumped up again to charge at Obi-Wan, Kylo threw him back with a Force push that took him completely by surprise, throwing him back into the computer panels again. Obi-Wan was on his feet again too, aiming his lightsaber at Kylo, who felt compelled to draw his own saber but didn’t because he knew he would lose if it came to a fight with his namesake.

~*~

A bit dazed from the strong push, Anakin looked up to see Obi-Wan confronted by a dark-haired man he had never seen before. How had he missed him? He had made sure to kill everyone on the platform - where had he been hiding? He hadn’t been able to sense his presence at all, and even now it was difficult despite that the man stood right in front of him.  
The only people Anakin knew of who shielded their presence so well were Sith.

“Hello there,” Obi-Wan interrupted the tense silence in a light tone, demanding both their attention.

Anakin immediately pulled over his fallen saber, preparing to fight again, though now he was unsure against whom. If the stranger was on Obi-Wan’s side, Anakin was at a great disadvantage, though he still had the impression the newcomer was on the Dark Side - did that make him an ally?

Just like Anakin, Obi-Wan braced himself for battle, but the stranger made no attempt to reach for a weapon, so perhaps he was unarmed; what kind of an idiot interrupted a Jedi battle unarmed?!

After another few seconds of tense silence in which everyone watched each other and no one moved, Obi-Wan spoke again.

“Who might you be?”

Obi-Wan’s annoyingly patient voice broke through Anakin’s last nerve, and he jumped at his master again to strike at him, however, instead of being confronted by Obi-Wan’s blue lightsaber, his strike was blocked by a flaming red one.

Alarmed, both Obi-Wan and Anakin stepped back from the unstable looking saber, each backing away into their own side of the room, sabers raised to ward off the intruder should he attempt an attack, but the man just stood there in silence, watching them with his saber raised. The saber was unlike any Anakin had ever seen, but the fact that it was red - and everything else about the man - left no doubt in his mind that this man was on the Dark Side of the Force.  
Was he an apprentice of Sidious’? Had Sidious sent him because he thought Anakin couldn’t handle himself?!  
Anger and betrayal immediately surged through his veins, and he threw himself at the stranger in blind rage. He would kill him and show Sidious who his strongest apprentice was.

It took Anakin less than 10 seconds to discover that his opponent lacked practice with the lightsaber, and with just a few strikes, the man was disarmed and Anakin Force pulled the unusual, red saber towards him while the other man lay at his feet, staring up at him with a blank expression that showed nothing of what might be going on behind those dark, cold eyes.

With his opponent down, Anakin looked around to see what had happened to Obi-Wan, but his former master had taken advantage of Anakin’s distraction and disappeared. Through the large windows, he saw him on the platform, carrying Padmé into her ship, and he was taken over by relief; at least she was safe from whoever this new threat might be.

~*~

Due to the relief Kylo felt from the man he was now sure was his grandfather, he was certain that the unconscious woman had to have been Padmé; no one had ever told him that she had been there that day - all he had ever known was of the battle between Vader and Obi-Wan - but it was her without a doubt. Had Anakin injured her so much that she would die? But he had barely touched her and she appeared to have been fine…

“What is this saber?” Anakin asked harshly, turning on Kylo’s weapon.

“It’s a crossguard lightsaber,” Kylo answered as calmly as he could; he was nervous, excited, happy and terrified all at once. A part of him wanted to get up because remaining on the ground after being beaten wasn’t in his nature, but the other part didn’t want to challenge Anakin again; not just because he knew he stood no chance against him in a sword fight, but also because it was Darth Vader: the only person in the universe in front of whom he desired to kneel.

“Where did you get this? Doesn’t their design date back to the Great Scourge of Malachor? I didn’t know they still existed,” Anakin said slowly as he wielded the weapon, impressed.

Kylo had to suppress a proud smile; he had actually managed to impress Darth Vader. It was probably the happiest moment of his past five years or so.

“I built it,” he informed his grandfather as nonchalantly as possible.

~*~

Anakin looked down at him in surprise. “You built it?” As much as he hated to admit it, he was deeply impressed.

“Yes. But I used a cracked Kyber crystal, so it’s unstable and needs the quillons on the side to divert the extra heat created by the crystal,” the stranger explained.

Anakin moved the saber around a bit, testing its movement. The saber looked extremely unstable indeed, as if it were about to burst in his hand any moment, and he could feel the heat from the lateral side vents. It felt comfortably heavy in his hand and moved just as smoothly as any other saber he had held.  
It was, without a doubt, the most amazing saber he had ever seen, and he had no intention to ever give it back to its rightful owner.

“Who are you? Did Sidious send you?” Anakin asked as harshly as he could, even though he had quite grown to like the stranger, now that he knew just how capable he was with certain things, albeit not with fighting. He knew he should kill him, and he had every intention to, but not just yet.

“No. No, he didn’t,” the man replied, shaking his head and causing his dark hair to fall in his scarred face. It reminded Anakin of himself a bit.

“Then who are you?” Anakin demanded, aiming the red saber at him. To his dissatisfaction, the man did not flinch or try to move away.

“Uh…I’m Matt… I’m a radar technician…”

Anakin gave him a flat stare. “A radar technician.” He didn’t need Jedi powers to know the man was lying; no simple radar technician was able to use such strong Force pushes or able to build a lightsaber.

~*~

Kylo’s mind was racing for an answer, but he couldn’t think of anything because ‘ _I’m here to rescue you’_ sounded far too stupid even in his head. Due to whatever strange Force Bond they shared, he knew Anakin was hesitant to kill him, so if he played his cards right, he might be able to win him over; the only question was: how?

“I’m trying to help you,” he finally said, once Anakin’s patience had almost worn out.

“Who sent you?” Anakin demanded, keeping the saber aimed at Kylo’s face.

“No one sent me. I was here the whole time,” Kylo lied. He couldn’t say the truth, but he also couldn’t say he’d been on Padmé’s ship because that made no sense, nor could he say that Sidious sent him because if Anakin asked Sidious, the Sith Lord would kill him. “I work on the power plant here.”

Anakin slowly lowered the saber, turning it off. “I think you’re the worst liar I’ve ever met in my life, _Matt the radar technician_ ,” he said astounded.

Kylo cleared his throat. “Usually I’m not that bad,” he mumbled embarrassed. He was just really nervous because the person in front of him was none other than Darth Vader, the man he had admired his entire dark life.

“Really,” Anakin said coldly, though through their Force Bond Kylo could tell he was a bit amused.

After placing both lightsabers inside his robes, Anakin slowly knelt down in front of him, and Kylo propped himself a bit further up on his elbows to be face to face with him. Anakin was not at all what Kylo had been searching for with that Force connection; he was just a boy.

Anakin lifted his hand, pushing against Kylo’s mental barriers with the weakest mind-probe Kylo had ever had to face. It wasn’t even strong enough to brush against the outer shields of Kylo’s highly trained mind; it was one of his strongest abilities, that had even helped him bring down Snoke.  
As good as Anakin may be with the lightsaber, this was one ability he had no practice in, nearly making Kylo laugh; he was better at something than Vader. Granted, Vader had only just begun studying the Dark Side whilst Kylo had been at it for a few years, but still! He was better at mental control than Darth Vader!

 


	3. Chapter 3

Anakin slowly pushed deeper and deeper into the other man’s mind, searching for images, voices, memories - something - but there was nothing. Not even the hint of a resistance against his intrusion. He could see and feel nothing at all, as if the man’s mind was an empty void.  

Confused, Anakin pulled back, focusing on the man’s face instead. “What are you?” he asked hesitantly.

“I’m on your side,” Matt replied after a short silence.

“And what side would that be?” Anakin asked suspiciously.

“Yours,” was the only reply Matt deemed necessary, even though that didn’t actually answer Anakin’s question at all, mainly because at the moment he had no idea what side of what he was on.

Anakin stood up abruptly. “I don’t trust you,” he informed Matt coldly.

“Maybe someday you will,” Matt replied, standing up as well.

Under normal circumstances, Anakin would have argued with his behavior, but there was something about him; something familiar that he couldn’t name, as if he knew his presence but he didn’t know from where because he was certain he had never met him before.  

“We’ll see.” Anakin kept his voice as neutral and hard as he could while he gestured for Matt to walk ahead of him, towards the door of the building.

“Where are we going?” Matt asked as he set into motion, apparently not worried to turn his back to Anakin; why wasn’t he the least bit scared? Anakin had easily beaten him in a fight, yet that man didn’t even bother to flinch when Anakin pointed a saber at him, nor did he have a problem with turning his back on him. Did Matt trust him? It made no sense at all.

“To my master. He’ll decide what to do with you.” Anakin didn’t know what else to do. The other option would be to leave him there, but the fact that he had been completely unable to see anything in his mind had scared him a bit, so the only thing he could think of was to bring him to Sidious; surely the Sith Lord would be able to get more out of him.

~*~

Kylo wanted to object; he had heard a great deal about Darth Sidious, Emperor of the Galactic Empire, and that was not someone he wanted to confront in his current state. That state being 53 years in the past with no place to go and no one to turn to.   
Where was he supposed to go? He had nothing in this time, not even an identity. How would he survive?  
Perhaps being taken to Sidious wasn’t such a bad thing after all, even if the old coot was a manipulative bastard of the worst sort. But then again, Kylo was good at handling someone like that.

They boarded Anakin’s ship in silence, and after departing from Mustafar, the Jedi’s feelings finally began to clear and withdraw from Kylo’s mind. Had Anakin been trying to reach someone else with his feelings?   
Padmé had been there. Had he been trying to reach her? But instead he had reached Padmé’s grandson?   
Was a Force Bond across 53 years even possible?   
Had someone told Kylo about it, he wouldn’t have believed it, but here he was, sitting just a few feet away from his grandfather, before this one even had children.

“So,” Kylo finally broke the silence. He wasn’t exactly the chatty type, but how often did you get the chance to talk to the person you idolized your entire life?

Anakin turned to look at him. “So, what?”

“This Lord Sidious - what does he want from you?” Kylo continued casually.

“He is my Master,” Anakin said firmly.

“Yeah, I got that. I mean, what does he want from you?” Did Anakin know? Probably not; Kylo also hadn’t known what Snoke wanted from him until it was too late.

Though Anakin’s feelings were far more controlled than before, Kylo was still able to sense his confusion. A confusion he was unwilling to show, and one he masked with confident words that Kylo would have believed, had he not known better.

“He wants me to rule by his side, according to the Rule of Two, as decreed by the great Darth Bane. Together, he and I will rule the Galaxy.”

Kylo knew of the Rule of Two. It was something also Snoke had believed in: there could only be two Sith - one Master and one Apprentice. Never more, never less.   
Not all Sith in history lived by this rule, but some did, and if Sidious was one of these, there was no space for Kylo here.

“You’re a Sith apprentice, then?” When would Anakin turn into Darth Vader? Or had it happened already? No one knew exactly, but now that Kylo had intervened, things would be different. It was proof that he was able to change the future.   
A realization that opened a whole new world of possibilities for him.

“Lord!” Anakin snarled coldly. “I’m a Sith Lord. I am Darth Vader.”

Kylo’s stomach felt funny at hearing those words. He was unsure whether to be impressed or cringe. This boy was certainly not the Darth Vader he had admired for so long.

“Whose apprentice are _you_?” the young Vader continued with a glare.

If Kylo wanted any chance of manipulating the future, he couldn’t let Anakin or Sidious know about it. “I’m not. I’m not a force-sensitive.”

Anakin gave him a look that clearly stated he saw through the lie. “Is that so. Then what are you?”

Kylo gave him an innocent look. “Radar technician.”

The Sith apprentice laughed a bit, easing the earlier tension. “And building ancient lightsabers is your hobby, yeah?”

“Or maybe I lied about that. Perhaps I really am just a simple radar technician who stole the lightsaber.” Why had he told him about that?! What had he been thinking?!   
Oh that’s right; he had been trying to impress him.

“Which certainly explains why you know about Kyber crystals and how a crossguard saber works,” Anakin reasoned, still amused.

~*~

What was it about that man? Why did he feel comfortable in his presence? After everything that had happened lately, all the horrible things he had done, being in the older man’s presence was like ointment for his aching soul. Talking to him made it easier to ignore what had happened with Padmé, and the fear and confusion he felt for the future. Feelings he was desperately trying to push away at the moment.

“Maybe I read a book on it,” ‘Matt the radar technician’ suggested, though Anakin was unsure whether he was amused by this conversation or not. His dark, haunted eyes betrayed the light tone of their conversation, reassuring Anakin that this man was most certainly not a simple radar technician.

“Or perhaps you’re a fallen Jedi trying to run away from the Council,” Anakin commented snidely, not truly believing that. The man didn’t seem like a Jedi; not by appearance or weapon, and certainly not by the empty void Anakin had seen inside his mind.   
Ever since they had boarded the ship, Anakin had tried to reach out with his mind to detect the other man’s feelings, but there was nothing, as if he were shrouded behind a dark curtain. The only people Anakin knew who were capable of hiding their thoughts and feelings so well, were Sith. Powerful Sith.

“Perhaps,” Matt agreed quietly, not giving Anakin any sort of insight, which was driving him mad.

“If you are, you’re the worst Jedi I’ve ever met. Any youngling is better with a lightsaber than you.” That might have been a bit harsh - he wasn’t actually that bad - but Anakin was annoyed and trying to get a rouse out of the calm, collected man who didn’t appear at all bothered by it.

“Which makes my point: I’m not a force-sensitive.” Matt nodded, satisfied.

“And yet, I know you are. You said you were on my side - what did you mean?”

Matt was silent for so long that Anakin nearly asked again, but finally he replied. “If you wish to find out, don’t take me to Sidious.”

“Why, because he will find out who you are in a moment?” Anakin laughed coldly.

“Maybe he will, maybe he won’t. Either way, he will probably kill me.”

Was that a good or a bad thing? Anakin had no idea who this man was - he could be an enemy. But he could also be something entirely different… But what if not?

“I will take you to my Master and he will decide what to do with you.” Lord Sidious would find out about him either way, and Anakin didn’t want to hide him from his new Master, no matter how conflicted he might be about it. His decision wasn’t solely based on that, but also on the fact that they were very close to Sidious’ ship, and the Sith Lord probably knew about Matt already anyway.

Since Matt refrained from commenting, Anakin continued talking. “If you tell him the truth of who you are, he may favor you and let you live.”

~*~

Kylo just nodded, knowing that Sidious would never believe him even if he told him the truth. What was he going to do? There was no chance for him to become Sidious’ apprentice, even if Anakin was already a Sith Lord. He stood no chance against Vader, and based on Bane’s decree, Sidious would make Anakin kill him.   
Granted, Kylo could imagine worse deaths than by the sword of Darth Vader, but still; he was over 50 years in the past, with the ability to mold the future into anything he desired. He could take over the galaxy himself… He could reign as leader of the Galactic Empire and turn the future into what he believed was right. It gave him endless possibilities.

The only person standing in his way was Lord Sidious. Was he more powerful than Snoke? Similar to Snoke, he was a strong political leader, but how strong was he truly with the Force?   
That also left him with the problem of Vader though; if Vader was loyal to Sidious, it was a real problem. There was no way he could take on Vader _and_ Sidious… But perhaps he could somehow bring Vader over to his side. Make him see that Sidious was in their way; they didn’t need him. With their combined strength, they could overthrow the Emperor and build a new Galactic Empire according to their own desires.

Kylo scrutinized the young man next to him as they approached a large federation ship, on which he could sense a dark force. A force that would keep Vader in chains for many years to come; would he be able to break free from it now? Was Anakin capable of defying Sidious?  
According to Leia’s belief, Vader’s blind loyalty to Sidious originated from losing Padmé because after her death, he was so lost and hurt that he turned towards the only stability in his life, and that so happened to have been Sidious, who took full advantage of Anakin’s weakened spirits. However, unlike Sidious, Kylo had the advantage of knowing the future; he knew Padmé would die; he knew Anakin would be devastated and weak. He had a far greater chance of using Vader than Sidious did - if he played his cards in the right moment.   
Neither Sidious nor Anakin knew of Padmé’s fate yet, and all depended on when and how Anakin found out.

For a moment, Kylo paused in his train of thought. Was that really what he intended to do? Use Vader’s suffering to his advantage? The way Snoke had done to him? The way Sidious had done to Vader? Was he that kind of monster?

Reality brushed against his skin like an icy blanket; he was exactly that kind of monster. He would wait until Anakin was torn and vulnerable, at which point he would make his move, winning Vader’s undivided loyalty, and together they would rule the Galaxy.

 

 


End file.
